Leaked fraternity emails outrage many at American University

American University administration is looking into a series of leaked emails sent out by members of an underground fraternity that include discussions of underage drinking, illegal drug use, rape, assault and other illicit behaviors.

Over 70 pages of emails, texts and documents were sent out to members of the AU community — including The Eagle, American University’s student-run newspaper — and various campus life and student activities offices on Thursday morning. Emails allegedly sent by members of the fraternity include mentions of illicit drug use, derogatory and racially charged language and even a lengthy discussion on whether or not a member of the fraternity assaulted a young woman.

The emails, which date back to 2012, were posted later that evening to a Tumblr site, where the names of the females and sororities mentioned as well as the names of the brothers who sent the emails were redacted.

The documents appear to be taken from the email listserv of the former Alpha Tau Omega fraternity, which was disbanded from AU’s campus in 2001 due to hazing and alcohol abuse. The group now goes by their chapter name, Epsilon Iota, and continues to recruit members.

One email, dated March 20, 2014 reads, “I just think that more intimate pre-games where the girls would feel more relaxed and safe would be such a good idea to get the b***** into the right state of intoxication so that plows will be raining all over the place,” according to The Eagle.

Another email, dated Aug. 16, 2013, reads, “She had a friend who got raped at our house? I would like to meet this lying c*** and show her how african men treat their woman [sic].”

“We are outraged by the reprehensible content of this material,” said Gail Hanson, vice president of campus life, in an email memorandum to the AU community on April 18. “It could not be more contrary to American University’s values and standards.”

The memorandum stated that the matter is under “intense analysis by university officials.” According to The Eagle, Camille Lepre, assistant vice president for communications and media, has said that local law enforcement will also assist in for the investigation.

“We assure our campus community that we are pursuing these matters deliberately and expeditiously so that violations of the law are addressed and university conduct code standards are upheld,” Hanson said in the April 18th memo.

The original emails were leaked by an anonymous address with the name “Worthy Keeper.” The email has since been deleted, and the identity of the leaker is still unknown.

Screenshot of the change.org petition created in the wake of the leaked emails. (change.org website)

AU’s Student Government released a statement on April 18 that called for administrators to take action on those involved in the emails. Students are also pressuring the administration to take a stand through events, such as an open discussion held on April 20 hosted by a group “No More Silence: Demand Consequences for EI” and an online petition on Change.org by the same name.

As of April 21 at 1 p.m., the petition had 511 signatures.

Other students have begun to change their Facebook profile pictures to an image that reads “I WILL NOT BE SILENT” with the letters E and I highlighted in a different color.

“AU students who contributed to those emails (especially those discussion illegal activities, trivializing sexual assault, using misogynist, sexist, racist, and homophobic language) should not be students at this university,” said the Change.org petition. “By perpetrating these heinous acts, they have proven themselves unworthy of being members of our community.”

Students have also started a Facebook event that calls for students to “spread awareness of the rape culture that is across campus” by rallying on the campus’ main quad on Thursday.

Curtis Burrill, the assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority life at AU, declined to comment to the Eagle on the matter.

“The conduct we’re addressing is contrary to the university’s values and standards, and is not reflective of the student body in general,” said Lepre in an email.

Kendall Breitman is an intern in USA TODAY’s Washington bureau and former editor of the American University Eagle.